La Quinta is beginning the search for a new city manager to replace Frank Spevacek, who has announced he will retire when his contract expires June 3.

While city manager since 2012, Spevacek has worked for the city since March 1988, when his municipal consulting firm, Santa Ana-based RSG, was hired to assist the city with investment of its redevelopment funds and creation of affordable housing.

“We didn’t have anyone with that expertise on our staff,” said Councilman John Peña, who was mayor when Spevacek was hired in 1988.

“I think he did a wonderful job,” as a consultant and as a city manager. He thought outside the box and raised the bar for the next chief administrator especially with staff development, Peña said.

“He has let staff come out of their shells, so to speak,” Peña said, encouraging them to have and express ideas, which helped them grow and expand their thinking.

“I’m very pleased with where the staff is and what we have been able to do even after the downsizing” in 2012, Peña said, adding that will need to be a key qualification of the next city manager.

On Tuesday, council will hire an outside recruitment firm, at a cost ranging $26,500 to $30,000. Council will choose between three firms – Avery Associates in Los Gatos; Roberts Consulting Group with offices in Los Angeles and Rancho Mirage; and Ralph Andersen & Associates in Rocklin – interviewed during a special study session on Jan. 29.

If more time is needed to find a replacement or make the transition to a new city manager, the council can extend his contract to July 1, Mayor Linda Evans said.

When City Manager Tom Genovese died unexpectedly in 2011, Spevacek didn’t consider applying for the job until Evans — then a council member — suggested it.

“I think my words were, ‘Hey, Frank, would you consider taking a pay cut to become a city manager?’” Evans recalled.

Evans said Spevacek’s years-long ties to the city and his experience consulting with other cities across the state made him the right person to step in and take the city forward.

“Frank was unique because he had the city knowledge and the redevelopment agency experience,” Evans said.

Spevacek said his mother also suggested he apply for city manager.

“The more I thought about it, it intrigued me, given the size of the organization I thought, maybe I could make it a high-profile organization that was well respected,” Spevacek said. “I wanted to make this a city of the 21st century.”

He decided to apply and was unanimously approved by the City Council.

“It has been one of the top five best things I could have done in my life,” Spevacek said.

He was hired as the state was doing away with redevelopment agencies, and in the process about $41 million the city of La Quinta had earmarked for infrastructure projects including road and drainage improvements.

One of Spevacek’s first tasks was to reduce staff by 25 percent – from 100 employees to 75.

Rebuilding had to start within City Hall where employees were working not as teams but as individuals.

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Today, they don’t just survive, they thrive, Evans said, pointing to the statewide recognition the city earned when it received the Helen Putnam Award for Internal Administration at the 2018 League of California Cities annual meeting.

He wanted people associated with City Hall – the council and staff – to be entrepreneurial in their thinking and take calculated risks.

“With Frank, no idea is a bad idea and no question is a dumb question,” Evans said.

Other challenges over the years have been getting SilverRock Golf Resort developed and Measure G – a 1 percentage point sales tax hike – passed in 2016 to help the city with rising public safety costs and infrastructure projects, including road and drainage improvements formerly paid with RDA funds.

SilverRock developer Robert Green recently obtained the $3.4 million needed to fund the buildout of Montage and Pendry luxury hotels and residential units. He has been pulling permits and mass grading is expected to start within the month with the hotels scheduled to open by the end of 2020.

The city anticipated Measure G would bring another $6 million in general fund revenues annually, but this year is expected to bring another $10 million in sales tax revenue.

Sales tax is the top revenue source for the city, estimated to bring $8.9 million of the city’s anticipated $41.66 million in revenues for 2018-19, before figuring in Measure G earnings.

Transient occupancy taxes on hotels, short-term rentals and bed-and-breakfast inns plus resort fees are the second-largest earner, expected to bring the city $9.2 million to its coffers this year.

The city has mapped out plans for Highway 111 – the city’s bread and butter – created as a retail haven for a city with a low property tax revenue rate.

But the world of retail is changing as a result of the Internet and big chain stores are closing every day.

The city envisions a future of mixed-use development with a variety of residential, shopping, dining and entertainment options all within a walkable distance.

This spring, the city will also begin buildout of the Village area makeover, making it more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly while also opening it up to mixed-use development.

But the thing Spevacek is most proud of is the change he has been able to bring about within City Hall — the camaraderie and teamwork among staff that didn’t exist when he started.

“People are genuinely excited about what they do,” Spevacek said. “To bring that turnabout is one of my greatest accomplishments.”

His tenure hasn't all been without some controversy, however, notably the years of delays on SilverRock and ultimate land transaction deal between the city and Green.

Most recently, issues involved communications mix-ups that caused an elementary school group to change its Mexican Independence Day celebration at the La Quinta library and the Ironman bicycle race that brought traffic to a standstill on major roadways.

Staff is continuing to work on a possible alternate Ironman route to present to the council, probably in March, Spevacek said. The council will ultimately decide whether the event should be held again in La Quinta.

Spevacek’s starting salary was $195,000 per year plus benefits and today is $204,000 per year plus benefits. The council has yet to discuss the salary for his replacement.

Moving forward, the council would like to find someone with similar qualifications who has worked in and out of government, Evans said.

But primary is someone who will continue the current working environment at City Hall.

“Every city is facing the same issues … of how to deal with the new world of online shopping and smaller stores and how to keep the city vibrant and prosperous,” Peña said.

What he does in retirement is still in the air, Spevacek said, but at 65 believes it is time to see what the next generation can do.

He and his wife, Kathleen Rosenow, plan to keep their home in La Quinta as well as their home in Julian where they also own a vintage trailer park.

“La Quinta was and still is a city of people that want to get things done,” Spevacek said.

Desert Sun reporter Sherry Barkas covers the cities of La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. She can be reached at sherry.barkas@thedesertsun.com or (760) 778-4694. Follow her on Twitter @TDSsherry